Editing Lucas Browning

On [[2559#December|December 12, 2559]], Browning was aboard the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} when it was [[Battle over Installation 07|ambushed]] by [[Banished]] forces upon arrival at [[Installation 07]]. As the ''Infinity'' fell to the Banished assault, Browning was evacuated onboard the [[SKT-29 Bumblebee|lifeboat]] ''[[Papa Tango Delta Zero Nine]]'' piloted by [[TJ Murphy]]. Browning was the last person to board the lifeboat as Spartan [[Bonita Stone]] held a collapsing beam above him so he could reach the lifeboat. During its escape from the flagship, Browning’s lifeboat flew through a destroyed [[Banished]] [[Banished dreadnought|dreadnought]], but it lost its back section to weapon fire, and spun out of control as it entered the ring’s atmosphere.{{Ref/Novel|RP|1}}

Browning's lifeboat crash-landed on the surface of the ring, and was lodged inside a crevice, leaving its occupant trapped. The crew took turns transmitting a distress call, which was answered by [[SPARTAN-IV Program|Spartan-IV]] [[Tomas Horvath]] of [[Fireteam Intrepid]].{{Ref/Reuse|rp3}} However, after the explosion on the ring and its sudden [[slipstream space|slipspace jump]], they lost contact with Horvath. The event, which fractured the ring, also buried the lifeboat deeper into the crevice, until Spartan Bonita Stone arrived and tore open the lifeboat's hull to pull out each survivor, including Browning.{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp5|RP|5}} Over the next six days, Browning and other lifeboat survivors travelled across the region with Spartan Stone. They eventually rendezvoused with another group of survivors led by Spartan [[Nina Kovan]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp7|RP|7}} Browning bonded with two other non-combatants from Kovan's group, [[Erik Bender]] and [[Gavin Jo]], who were supply staff personnel. The combined group became the "[[boat crew]]". Led by Stone and Kovan, they travelled to the UNSC stronghold at the wreckage of the {{UNSCShip|Mortal Reverie}};{{Ref/Reuse|rp8}} they arrived on December 19.{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp9|RP|9}} Browning and Jo were assigned to the med bay within the ship's wreckage.{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp13|RP|13}}

Browning participated in the defense of the ''Reverie'' when the Banished launched [[Battle of the Mortal Reverie|an assault]] on the wreckage on [[2560#January|January 31, 2560]]. Along with other members of the boat crew, he was stationed at a medical tent near the secondary barricade.{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp16|RP|16}} On February 2, as the UNSC defenses fell to the Banished assault, Browning and Gavin Jo were attacked by a [[Sangheili Enforcer]]. While Jo was impaled by the Sangheili's [[Meluth'qelos-pattern energy sword|energy sword]], Browning was saved by Spartan Kovan. Browning tried to stabilize Jo's injury, but Jo begged him to leave as more Banished troops approached.{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp17|RP|17}} Browning fled along with other UNSC survivors of the battle. In order to prevent the Banished from finding Spartan Kovan and the rest of the boat crew, Browning stole a Ghost and led the Banished troops away from his friends. He expected to be killed, but was instead taken by the Banished as a [[prisoner of war]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp18|RP|18}}

On February 8, Browning was taken to [[Redoubt of Sundering]], where he was horrified, then angry, to learn that there was [[Unidentified Banished human inspector|a human working as an inspector among the Banished]]. The Banished human inspector determined that, based on his physique, Browning was a scientist or a doctor, and Browning was taken to a holding cell. Over the next three or four weeks, Browning was left in the cell and watched other humans survivors being processed at the outpost, until he, along with a handful of other prisoners, was taken to [[Chak 'Lok]]'s [[Tower]] for interrogation and torture. During his initial torture session, Browning fainted at the sight of plasma cutters and woke up in an enclosed holding cell. He was fed in scraps or slops every couple of days. He met another prisoner, Spartan [[Hudson Griffin]], who occupied a cell next to his, though the two never actually saw each other, and Griffin kept his identity a secret from Browning.{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp20|RP|Chapter=20}}

At some point following the fall of the UNSC stronghold at the ''Reverie'', the Banished unearthed a [[Forerunner]] [[cylix]] underneath the wreckage, which had been converted into [[Outpost Tremonius (location)|a Banished outpost]].{{Ref/Game|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Outpost Intel 3|Banished Audio log|Detail=Outpost Intel #15 - In Your Honor}} On April 28, under the orders of [[War Chief]] [[Escharum]], [[Itacus]] forced Browning to [[Reclaimer|interface]] with the cylix, {{Ref/Novel|Id=rp25|RP|Chapter=25}}{{Ref/Game|Id=tp2|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=The Prisoner #02 - What was Inside}} releasing the [[Xalanyn]] known as "[[The Harbinger]]" from stasis.{{Ref/Game|Id=tp3|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=The Prisoner #03 - She was Smiling}} Upon her release, Browning caught the Harbinger's eyes, and she claimed that he will be hers.{{Ref/Reuse|rp25}} Browning remained at Outpost Tremonius afterwards; on April 23, when Spartan Stone was scouting out the Banished outpost, she recognized Browning from afar, then returned to Kovan to share her findings. That evening, Kovan snuck into Outpost Tremonius and into the Phantom that held Browning. He couldn't be rescued, however, as the Harbinger and the Banished had put a pair of shackles on Browning's wrists, with a node on the Phantom's hull that would detect the sensors and detonate explosives within the shackles if Browning leaves the Phantom. Browning informed Kovan of the Harbinger, and opted to stay under captivity. Kovan gave him several recording transmitters, instructing Browning to learn whatever he could about the Harbinger or the Banished, and left a tracking beacon to Browning's neck. The Spartan made a promise to find Browning, then left before a pair of Jiralhanae patrol approached.{{Ref/Reuse|rp26}} Browning would recount his encounter with the Harbinger,{{Ref/Reuse|tp1}}{{Ref/Reuse|tp2}}{{Ref/Reuse|tp3}} and, per Kovan's instruction, left them to automatically link to any UNSC [[data pad]] transmitters in his vicinity;{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp33|RP|Chapter=33}} [[Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|his audio logs on the Harbinger]] were recovered by [[John-117]] approximately a month later.{{Ref/Reuse|tp7}}{{Ref/Reuse|tp4}}{{Ref/Reuse|tp5}}{{Ref/Reuse|tp6}} The next day, on April 24,{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp27|RP|Chapter=27}} Browning was taken back to the Tower.{{Ref/Game|Id=tp4|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=The Prisoner #04 - Easy to Break}}  

On April 26, Browning was transported to the Harbinger at the [[House of Reckoning (location)|House of Reckoning]];{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp29|RP|Chapter=29}} he managed to record the initial exchange between Chak 'Lok and the Harbinger upon his arrival.{{Ref/Game|Id=tp5|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=The Prisoner #05 - Barely Anything Left}} The Harbinger and the Banished had prepared a table of cooked food and water for Browning; halfway through his meal, however, the Harbinger stopped him so she can speak to him.{{Ref/Game|Id=tp6|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=The Prisoner #06 - Price Paid}}{{Ref/Reuse|rp29}} Over the next several days, Browning was transported multiple times from his holding cell in the Tower to the House of Reckoning to speak with the Harbinger. On May 7, while he was in his cell in the Tower, Browning tried to describe his experience with the Harbinger to Griffin, but when he tried to recount the encounter, he could only speak in numbers. Griffin managed to comfort Browning, telling him to keep it to himself for now, and they would endure captivity together.{{Ref/Reuse|rp33}} By May 15, Browning's repeated encounters with the Harbinger had left him in a hysterical state in which he was involuntarily rambling to himself.{{Ref/Reuse|tp7}}{{Ref/Reuse|tp6}}{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp37|RP|Chapter=37}} He was not present at neither the Tower nor the House of Reckoning when John-117 attacked either locations circa May 28.{{Ref/Quest|Id=tower|HI|Lockdown|The Tower}}{{Ref/Quest|HI|Reckoning|House of Reckoning}} Given that on May 18, the boat crew decided to rescue Browning,{{Ref/Novel|Id=rp38|RP|Chapter=38}} it is possible that Browning was liberated from the Tower before the facility was put out of use by John-117.{{Ref/Reuse|tower}}